Shamballah is said by the adherents to the Ascended Master Teachings, to be a floating city manifested on the etheric plane somewhere above the Gobi Desert in the borderlands of Mongolia.[4][5]

The Great White Brotherhood is a spiritual 'fraternity' of Ascended Beings, including Lord Sanat Kumara, long since dedicated to the eventual Salvation of Mankind and the establishment of Divine Law again in this Three-dimensional reality.

According to Elizabeth Van Buren, the Brotherhood once maintained (earthly) headquarters hidden in a remote valley near a sacred lake in old Tibet, until relatively recently, when, possibly due to the surmised threat of Communist China, they withdrew, allegedly through subterranean tunnels to an alternative earthly location in Peru, where they are still reported as having an earth base (circa 1985).[6]

These authors believe that Lord Sanat Kumara is the founder of the Great White Brotherhood, composed of Masters of the Ancient Wisdom (called in the Ascended Master Teachings Ascended Masters) and volunteers from other worlds who have joined together to advance spiritual evolution on Earth.[7]

The Kumar resides in the most sublime center of our planet, Shamballa, the sahasrara of the world. The Kumara has several names, relating to the sahasrara centers of different Systemic Existences: At the Supra-Cosmic plane, he is called Sanatana; at the Cosmic plane, it is Subrahmanya; at the Solar plane, the Kumara is Sanaka; at the Planetary plane, it is Sanandana; and on this planet, it is Sanath Kumara. So Sanath Kumara is an aspect of Kumara that resides in Shamballa.

Scriptures, especially the Mahabharata, say that it is Sanath Kumara who comes down to help the Divine Plan of Creation, when Lord Krishna came to be. He was born to Lord Krishna as his son, and he was named Pradyumna. Sanath Kumara incarnates himself through the Divine Mother Rukmini as Pradyumna. On completion of his work, He again gets back to his original position and takes to the seat in Shambala as Sanath Kumara. These details are given in the last chapters of Mahabharata.

The ancient Buddhist temple, Kurama-dera in Japan, is host to a unique bodhisattva, the "Defender Lord", who is said to come from the planet Venus 6.5 million years ago. He is described as having the appearance of a 16-year-old boy.

Sanat Kumara was mentioned briefly by the theosophistHelena Blavatsky.[10] She claimed he belonged to a group of beings, the "Lords of the Flame", whom Christian tradition have misunderstood as Lucifer and the fallen angels.[11]

Later authors who draw from Theosophical teachings such as Alice Bailey and Elizabeth Clare Prophet have added to the story with further details. He is usually depicted as having the appearance of a 16-year-old boy, said to be the incarnation of the Will of the Logos, and purportedly possesses an unaging body not born of mortal woman.[13]

The Descent of Sanat Kumara and the Lords of the Living Flame from Venus[edit]

C.W. Leadbeater and later adherents of Theosophy such as Alice A. Bailey believe that Sanat Kumara descended from the etheric plane of the planet Venus to Earth 18,500,000 years ago (A.E. Powell gives a figure of 16,500,000 years ago; Elizabeth Clare Prophet of Church Universal and Triumphant does not give a specific date but says it was a minimum of 2,500,000 years ago). In Theosophy, the beings that helped Sanat Kumara organize the expedition from Venus are called the "Lords of the Flame". C.W. Leadbeater and Annie Besant said that Sanat Kumara brought 30 "Lords of the Flame" with him from Venus to help him set up his colony.[14] In the later version of the story promulgated by Guy Ballard, notable "Lords of the Flame" include Gautama Buddha, and the World Teacher (the being referred to alternately as Maitreya or Christ by Benjamin Creme). Elizabeth Clare Prophet's Church Universal and Triumphant teaches that Sanat Kumara and the Lords of the Flame also brought 144,000 souls with them from Venus. Alice Bailey, on the other hand, gives the number 105 only. The prior incarnation and only incarnation of Maitreya, the Lord of Consciousness, according to some interpretations (not C.W. Leadbeater's), is Gauthama Siddartha Sakyamuni / Lord Buddha; according to these interpretations, he essentially 'overshadowed' the body of Gautama Siddhartha Buddha with Siddhartha's permission.

It is maintained in most of these versions of Theosophy that Venus, The 'Planet of Love', is the most spiritually advanced planet of our solar system. The beings living on the etheric plane of Venus are said to be hundreds of millions of years ahead of us in their spiritual evolution.[15][16] It is said that the governing council of Venus – the Seven Holy Kumars – sent one of themselves, Sanat Kumara, here to guide us.[17]

According to Theosophy, once Sanat Kumara arrived here, he directed the construction of the city of Shamballa on the etheric plane above the Gobi Desert to serve as his headquarters. Elizabeth Clare Prophet teaches that Shamballa was built physically on the White Island in the Gobi Sea (now the Gobi Desert), and was only later withdrawn from the physical to the etheric plane.

The most common title attributed to Lord Sanat Kumara in the Theosophical religious tradition is "Lord of the World". C.W. Leadbeater also states that an important duty of Sanat Kumara is to participate in an elaborate ritual every Wesak (the Full Moon of May) led by Gautama Buddha, and also participated in by the Maitreya (the being Theosophists identify as Christ), in which cosmic energy is focused from the "Solar Logos" to Earth in order to keep our planet's cosmic energy in balance. The ritual is said to take place in a ravine in southern Tibet (the Frontispiece of Leadbeater's book The Masters and the Path has a picture of the ritual taking place) and, it is stated by Leadbeater, can be viewed by in the etheric body or in the physical body by those who have etheric sight.[19]

Paradoxically, two other common appellations of Sanat Kumara are two opposite titles: "The Ancient of Days" (because he has been on Earth millions of years) and "The Youth of Sixteen Summers" (because even though he is millions of years old, he still looks like he is 16 years old). Another of his titles is "The One Initiator" because it is said by C. W. Leadbeater in the Masters and the Path that he personally performs the initiation ceremony for anyone who has reached the third level of spiritual initiation. Alice A. Bailey indicates the same in her writings.

In the all organizations subscribing to the "Ascended Master Teachings", Sanat Kumara is presented as an Ascended Master. He is also currently, according to the Ascended Master Teachings, known as the "Regent Lord of the World" in deference to Gautama Buddha having taken the office of "Lord of the World". (1956).[20] With Sananda Buddha taking on more of the day-to-day administrative tasks of governing the planet, this arrangement allows Sanat Kumara more time for the long-range galactic planning and interstellar diplomacy that is necessary for him to prepare Earth for its eventual admission to what Joshua David Stone calls the Galactic Confederation of Planets.

Sanat Kumara's symbol of the authority of his office as Lord of the World is a 2-foot-long (0.61 m), 2-inch-wide (51 mm) magic wand called the Rod of Power made of the metal orichalcum, with cone-shaped diamonds on each end.[21]

According to the Ascended Master Teachings, Sanat Kumara and the Lady Master Venus have a daughter named the Lady Master Meta[5][24] who they brought with them from Venus. She is said to have incarnated as an Avatar in Atlantis (where she served as the high priestess at the Temple of Healing) and in Sassanian Persia, where she married a mortal and had three children. In the Ascended Master Teachings, she is revered as the Goddess of Healing and is the patron deity of doctors and nurses.[25] Since she is immortal, possessing a celestial body like Sanat Kumara and the Lady Master Venus, she, like the Lady Master Venus, also has the appearance of a 16-year-old girl.

According to the Ascended Master Teachings, the Master Cha Ara[6][26] was originally one of the three children of Lady Master Meta when she incarnated as an Avatar in Sassanian Persia. He became a master alchemist who formulated an elixir of immortality made from rose petals, tea leaves from mcleod ganj and other ingredients. This enabled him to quickly achieve ascended masterhood. He uses small amounts of the elixir to heal people. He is the protector of all Zoroastrians. He works with St. Germain to bring about the New Age in the West Americas. Lady Master Meta’s husband and her other two children from her descent as an Avatar to Sassanian Persia have also become ascended masters but their names have not yet been revealed.[27]

She is also considered a Member of the Karmic Board; she handles the appeals of those on the third ray. She is believed by those adherent to the Ascended Master Teachings to have succeeded the previous Chohan, the Master Jesus / Sananda Buddha, on January 1, 1956, when she is said to have fully taken on the Office of Chohan of the Sixth Ray.,[30] thus advancing from the fifth to the sixth level of initiation. She primarily serves at Arabian Retreat in the Arabian Peninsula, northeast of the Red Sea.[29][31] Nada serves there with the Brothers and Sisters of the Indigo Cape, as well as with Jesus, his Mother Mary and El Samyam, the Chief of the Arabian Council.[32] She also serves at The Rose Temple, located on the etheric plane above New Bedford, Massachusetts. Designed after the pattern of a rose, with each "petal" being a room, this Retreat is the etheric counterpart of the "Temple of Love" on Atlantis where Nada once served as a High Priestess. In another human incarnate life in Atlantis, she was a lawyer.[33] She was described as having raised her body and Ascended approximately 2,776 years ago.[34]

Although the Lady Master Nada's home residence (called in the Ascended Master Teachings her "retreat") is underground on the etheric plane on the Arabian peninsula, according to the Ascended Master Teachings, she teleports to Shamballa every workday to her day job on the Karmic Board, hearing the cases of those souls who are on the third ray.

Sanat Kumara is also often referred to as the manifestation of the 'Solar Logos'[edit]

The Theosophist A.E. Powell stated that Sanat Kumara (whom he refers to as the Lord of the World) is in continuous telepathic rapport with ANNA / Gaia, the Spirit of the Earth (i.e., the Planetary Logos – equivalent to the goddess known in some religions as Gaia or as Prithivi in Hinduism).[37]C.W. Leadbeater and Alice A. Bailey stated that Sanat Kumara is in continuous telepathic rapport with the Solar Logos (the Being considered by Theosophists as the consciousness of the Sun). It is believed in Theosophy that Sanat Kumara captures the mystical power of the Seven Rays from the Solar Logos and distributes it to his assistants who guide the spiritual evolution of humanity, the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom (the Ascended Masters), who then focus the power to us. An intermediate trinity of Pratyeka-Buddhas assists Lord Buddha in stepping down this power from Sanat Kumara to Earth's Spiritual Hierarchy, and these Buddhas are also said to be Kumars originally from Venus.

According to the Alice A. Bailey material, Sanat Kumara has many assistants who help him in his arduous task of spiritually governing Earth as its presiding Regent. These include The Watcher (also called the Silent Watcher or the Great Silent Watcher), whose function it is to continually watch the Akashic records and download daily all the information on them relevant to the life waves of Earth and forward it to the Custodian of the Hall of Records.[39] (the Watcher is part of a special race of beings who fulfill this function that are posted on planets throughout the Cosmos[40] ); the Lords of Karma – Alice A. Bailey mentioned three Lords of Karma but did not name them; they are called in the Ascended Master Teachings the Karmic Board and they are stated to number seven and each of them is identified by name: The Great Divine Director (1st ray), The Goddess of Liberty (2nd ray), Lady Master Nada (3rd ray), Cyclopea (4th ray), Pallas Athena (5th ray), Lady Master Portia (6th ray), and Kwan Yin (7th ray).[41][42] The Karmic Board decides when souls that are between lives are to reincarnate again (if a disembodied soul desires to reincarnate somewhere or somewhen else than where they have been assigned, they must file an appeal with the Karmic Board—each person has to file an appeal to the member of the board that handles the appeals for their soul ray); and the one Alice A. Bailey calls the Custodian of the Hall of Records (called the Keeper of the Scrolls in the Ascended Master Teachings), the being who is in charge of the Hall of Records, an enormous administrative complex near Sanat Kumara’s palace in the etheric city of Shamballa—this is where the Recording Angels and those souls who are between incarnations who volunteer to give up their time in Summerland and help perform this work make visual records (utilizing the most advanced supercomputers on the etheric plane of Earth) of everything that happens in everyone’s lives on Earth. The raw data is first downloaded daily by The Watcher from the Akashic records and fed by him to the Custodian of the Hall of Records and thence forwarded to the recording angels and their volunteer helpers. These imprint records are sorted daily first into one of seven general files by the soul ray (see seven rays) of the soul that is reincarnating, and then downloaded from that general file into a special individual file for each soul that can be consulted by the Karmic Board if that soul makes an appeal before it.

Omri-Tas, the Ruler of the Violet Planet, is a Galactic level Ascended Master (Spiritual Hierarchy, Cosmic Beings) who with his celestial mate, Irmo-Sat, [7],[43] is Sanat Kumara's violet flame supplier. The violet flame is composed of a special type of etheric matter particles, which may plausibly be called violetrons, that are capable of cleansing bad karma. Omri-Tas rules a planet on the etheric plane called the Violet Planet, which is apparently several dozen to several hundred light years from Earth. The Violet Planet is one of many throughout the Cosmos that serve as reservoirs for the violet flame. Omri-Tas is the ruler of the Violet Planet that is closest to Earth and which is responsible for transmitting the violet flame from the Great Central Sun of the Cosmos via the Galactic Logos to planets in Ursa Major (Our sector is reputedly 'Sector Nine' of the 48 Sectors in this spiral Galaxy). Omri-Tas or one of his representatives periodically teleports from the Violet Planet to Shamballa with canisters of violet flame to replenish the violet flame in the large circular pool in the Temple of the Violet Flame in Shamballa (In return for the violet flame. Lord Sanat Kumara assigns to his care and tutelage worthy initiated Adepts/Chelas for etheric transport to their next assignments.[44]

Benjamin Creme subscribes to the modern esoteric view that Nordic aliens (like those mentioned by George Adamski – Creme accepts Adamski's sightings as valid.) pilot flying saucers from the Way-Station on Venus that is thought to exist on the etheric plane (Esotericists believe that since the Venusians' civilization is on the etheric plane, the planet's heat doesn't affect them) and are capable of stepping down the level of vibration of themselves and their craft to the slower level of vibration of the atoms of the physical plane.[45] Thus, Creme's followers assume that Sanat Kumara and the 'Lords of the Flame' [See Elizabeth Van Buren's Book of the same name.](Nordic aliens themselves) visit from Venus in a flying saucer. How, they ask, did Sanat Kumara get to Earth from Venus if it wasn't on a flying saucer? Creme's disciples believe that there is regular flying saucer traffic between Venus and Shamballa as well as other locations on Earth, especially areas where crop circles appear. Creme's acolytes believe that Shamballa is equipped with an astrodrome as well as with numerous flying saucer landing pads attached to the tops or the sides of the buildings to accommodate the heavy flying saucer traffic from Venus. Since Shamballa is envisioned as a floating city about five miles above the surface of the earth on the etheric plane, there are also numerous entrances in the basements of the buildings, where flying saucers can enter from the bottom of the city and park in spacious flying saucer parking garages provided in the basement levels of the buildings. In addition, says Creme, the Venusians have cigar-shaped mother ships up to four miles long to accommodate the transport of multiple individual flying saucers to and from Venus.[46] According to Creme, sometimes flying saucers from places more distant than Venus, such as from Mars, the Moons of Jupiter, Uranus, Sirius, the Pleiades, and beyond, fly in to pay a visit at Shamballa. Since, according to Creme, the Venusians flying saucer designers outsource the actual construction of their flying saucers to the Martians (who are said to dwell on the etheric plane of Mars),[47] whom he describes as the "master engineers of the solar system",[48] Shamballa provides a convenient neutral ground where the Venusians and the Martians can meet to evaluate new flying saucer designs and negotiate flying saucer construction contracts between themselves.

The Master Ashtar was first incorporated into the Ascended Master Teachings by Joshua David Stone in the early 1990s, based on his incorporation of the early 1980s revelations of the medium Tuella into his own teachings. Stone had already begun teaching in 1993, based on the early 1980s revelations of Tuella, that the Master Jesus, under his galactic name Sananda (the name, Stone stated, he adopted after his resurrection), works with Commander Ashtar, flying with Pallas Athena in their own flying saucer within the Ashtar Galactic Command flying saucer fleet as its Commander-in-Chief.[49] According to Stone, another name used by Commander Ashtar to denote his flying saucer fleet is The Airborne Division of the Great White Brotherhood. Although the Ashtar Command is ultimately under the titular authority of Sanat Kumara, the Master Jesus in consultation with Pallas Athena and Ashtar, make all the day to day command decisions.[50] Stone continued to present these teachings after 1996 at the yearly Wesak Mount Shasta gatherings.

According to some, The Ashtar Command is simply a modern concept of the Sumerian/Babylonian goddess and deity Astarte/Ishtar/Isis and her entourage whose assigned function is to protect an evolving mankind from the Satanic forces, then extant, on this planet, that sought to usurp the Earthly Regency of the local Ascended Masters in their role of protecting and engendering Divine Law upon the Earth until the arrival, at 'The Meridian of Time' of 'The Son of God'... Jesus/Sananda and his incarnation of 'The Christ Being'.[51]

Lourene Altiery, also known as Karita to her followers, is an Ascended Master Teachings teacher originally from Joliet, Illinois who now resides in Sun Lakes, Arizona – she set up her website in 2001. According to Altiery, there are four Masters originally from the Spiritual Hierarchy Cosmic beings said to be patrolling near Ashtar Galactic Command Flying Saucer Fleet who are now permanently stationed on Shamballa. These are the Masters Ballerian, who is the proprietor of a flying saucer repair facility in Shamballa called God's Garage; Kumad, an expert linguist who helps the Keeper of the Scrolls decipher and interpret ancient manuscripts; Ashlem, a Tibetan Master who resides at the Hall of Records and helps people decipher their past lives by assisting them in accessing the Akashic records; and Sutko, the "space detective", who helps the Master K-17 solve unusually difficult cases. Elements of the Ashtar Galactic Command Flying Saucer Fleet sometimes dock at Shamballa so the flying saucer crews can go on 'shore leave'.[52][53]

According to the Ascended Master Teachings of Anne Bellringer of Rapid City, South Dakota, who began teaching in 1990, Hatonn, an androidPleiadean Master who flies aboard the flying saucer Phoenix (one of the flying saucers of the Ashtar Galactic Command Flying Saucer Fleet, piloted by Hatonn’s partner the Master Soltec), monitors events on Earth for the Galactic Hall of Records at the galactic core.

He feeds information about events on Earth via subspace relay to the supercomputers at the "Galactic Hall of Records". However, Bellringer says that this activity is secondary to Hatonn's primary task, which is functioning as the liaison officer between Sanat Kumara and the Pleiadeans in order for him to be able to help Earth safely navigate in 2012 through the approaching so-called "photon belt", said to emanate from the Pleiades.[54][55]

According to many Christians, notably the anti-New Age author Constance Cumbey, New Age Leaders, including Masters of the Illuminati, are actually worshipping the Lord of this World, whose name is Sanat Kumara (Alice Bailey, Externalisation of the Hierarchy, p. 676, 709, 725; and Elizabeth Van Buren, The Secret of the Illuminati, p. 1). Bailey goes on to explain that Sanat Kumara is the "life and the forming intelligence", presiding over the Council of Shamballa [the Heaven of Earth according to New Age doctrine]. (The New Age Dictionary, p. 172) Further, Sanat Kumara is "the eternal youth from the Planet Venus". The name Lucifer is one of the ancient Greek names for Venus. Therefore, according to Cumbey, Sanat Kumara is merely another name for Satan or Lucifer. (Cumbey, Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow) [7].

Other New Age leaders have tried to separate themselves from the Illuminati movement, and view that burdening the two groups as entirely coexistent is inaccurate and ineffectual. New Age theosophy also counters these critics, teaching the fact that the being known as Sanat Kumara would rather see spiritual harmony and peace, a fact which many Illuminati members ignore and abuse.

In the glossary of in the back of the book Alchemy, which Elizabeth Clare Prophet claims was dictated to her by Kuthumi, Satan and Sanat Kumara are clearly distinguished as two different and opposed beings—Satan working for evil and Sanat Kumara for good.[56]

The scholar K. Paul Johnson maintains that the "Masters" that Madame Blavatsky wrote about and produced letters from were actually idealizations of people who were her mentors.[57] However, Sanat Kumara, although mentioned in passing by Madame Blavatsky, was never mentioned by her as an important "Master" that Blavatsky claimed to have met. He was first presented, under the name Lord of the World, as the head of the "Masters" by C.W. Leadbeater in his 1925 book The Masters and the Path.[58]

^Leadbeater, C.W. The Masters and the Path. Adyar, India: Theosophical Publishing House 1929 (Reprint: Kessinger Publishing 1997) – Fold-out picture facing the title page of the book shows a picture of Lord Sananda Buddha performing the Wesak ritual

^Luk, A.D.K.. Law of Life – Book II. Pueblo, Colorado: A.D.K. Luk Publications 1989. Describes Sanat Kumara and his role in founding the Brotherhood on Earth and passing the office of "Lord of the World" to Lord Sananda.

^ abLuk, A.D.K.. Law of Life – Book II. Pueblo, Colorado: A.D.K. Luk Publications 1989, Listing of Ascended Masters by The I AM Activity and The Bridge to Freedom

^Booth, Annice The Masters and Their Retreats Summit Lighthouse Library June 2003, Listing of Ascended Masters by The I AM Activity, The Bridge to Freedom, and The Summit Lighthouse Pages 144 and 240

^Shearer, Monroe & Carolyn I AM Adorations, Affirmations & Rhythmic Decrees Acropolis Sophia Books and Works 1998, Listing of Ascended Masters by The I AM Activity, The Bridge to Freedom, The Summit Lighthouse, and The Temple of The Presence

^Prophet, Elizabeth Clare and Prophet, Mark (as compiled by Annice Booth) The Masters and Their Retreats Corwin Springs, Montana:2003 Summit University Press (Note: the idea that Watcher was part of race of beings posted throughout the Cosmos to fulfill this functions was first promulgated by C.W. Leadbeater and continued by Guy Ballard and Elizabeth Clare Prophet) The Great Silent Watchers Page 122

Bailey, Alice A. The Treatise on White Magic New York:1934—Lucis Publishing Co. (It is stated on page 378 that the city of Shamballa was founded 18,500,000 years ago.)

Leadbeater, C.W. The Masters and the Path Adyar, Madras, India: 1925—Theosophical Publishing House (in this book, Sanat Kumara is referred to as Lord of the World.) (See web link to complete text of this book below.)

Powell, A.E. The Solar System London:1930—The Theosophical Publishing House, London, Limited. A complete outline of the Theosophical scheme of evolution. (See Chapter XXXIV [pages 216–218], "The Coming of the Lords of Venus" Note: In these pages, it is stated that the Lords of Venus came to Earth 16,500,000 years ago.)

Prophet, Mark L., and Elizabeth Clare. The Opening of the Seventh Seal: On the Path of the Ruby Ray. Malibu, California: Summit University Press, 1989. – self-published through their Summit University Press